Brown Eyes
by Clemsonfan4ever
Summary: Ponderosa story A mystery rider comes to Eagle Station and changes the Cartwrights lifes forever. Bad summery. please read and review. this is my first ponderosa story!


A/N: This is my first try at a Ponderosa fic. Please review. The story isn't finished and I promise to update soon. 

Brown Eyes 

A Ponderosa Story 

She rode in to Eagle Station quite late in the evening. Her hair whipping behind her. You could tell that she had made a hard long journey. Her face was dirty, but still held the natural beauty she had. Her clothes were dirty, her shirt torn and her pants caked with mud. Lucky for her there seemed to be some kind of meeting going on. She urged her horse on. She could see someone standing outside, she hoped he could help her. She was a couple of yards away when a larger crowd gathered outside. She was about to yell for their help when she collapsed off of her horse. She saw movement and heard voices around and then she slipped. Slipped into total darkness. 

Adam Cartwright was standing inside the Saloon, listening to all of the conversations. He hated town meetings in Eagle Station almost as much as Little Joe did. Speaking of Little Joe, where was he? He motioned to his father, Ben Cartwright, that he was going outside. Ben nodded his head and continued his conversation. Adam walked outside, it was a chilly night. He saw someone riding in, probably someone coming back from a cattle drive or something. Then he saw the hair. It was blonde, but not like Tess's, it was almost white. He could see it perfectly in the dark. He was a little confused about that, but the rider was almost here, so he would find out who it was soon. The rider suddenly fell off of the horse, a small cry escaped. 

"PA!!!" Adam cried as he ran to the fallen rider. Ben, ran out of the Saloon and followed his son. He was soon followed by his other two sons and about half the town. Once Adam reached the fallen rider, he seemed to have lost conciseness. By the time Ben and everyone else had arrived Adam had scooped up the fallen rider and was carrying him back to the Saloon. Adam looked down at his hand, that was on the fallen riders back, he felt something wet and sticky. 

"Pa! He's been shot!" Adam yelled to his father. Ben took the rider from his son's arms and took him into the Saloon. Adam looked at his hands again, they were covered with blood. Little Joe and Hoss walked up to him, and they all stared into the Saloon. 

She woke up with a start. She sat straight up in the bed and instantly regretted it. She hissed with pain. Her back felt like it was on fire. 

"Hey, you better lay back down!" She looked towards the voice with wide eyes. She was so confused, and it showed. The young boy walked to her and gently pushed her down by the shoulders. "You scared us for a while there. I think you're pretty lucky!" She looked at him with the same wide eyes. Little Joe looked at her. She looked away causing him to break out of his thoughts. "Oh! I'm sorry! Let me introduce myself, I'm Joseph Cartwright, but everyone calls me Little Joe. I was standing outside with my brother Hoss when you rode into town. My brother Adam and my Pa carried you into the Saloon. Shelby fixed you up. I must say that you did surprise us, we all thought you were a guy. You know because you were wearing pants not a dress. I don't think I've ever seen a lady wear pants except for Shelby, but I don't think that she counts. By the way, what is your name?" She stared at him for a long moment. She thought that it was quite funny how the boy talked as much as he did. 

"Ashley." She whispered. 

"What? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you." She cleared her throat. 

"My name's Ashley." She replied. 

"Well, now everyone can stop calling you the "mystery girl". Hey! I probably need to go get my Pa. He will want to talk to ya!" He ran out of the room and the girl had to laugh to herself. She soon heard some loud footsteps approaching, which she assumed meant that Little Joe was running back up to her room. Sure enough, a few moments later Joe ran back into her room to find Ashley sitting up. He was followed by a man in about his mid-thirties, and from what she gathered from Joe, his other two sons. One with dark features, he looked pretty much like his father. The other was pretty large, but you could tell that he wouldn't hurt a fly unless necessary. Little Joe looked at her with a serious expression on his face. 

"Hey, I told you to lay down. Does anybody listen to me?" The boys father ruffled his hair and laughed. He then turned to Ashley and stuck out his hand. 

"My name is Ben Cartwright. I see that you were lucky enough to meet Little Joe. This is my other sons, Adam and Hoss." Ashley shook his hand. "I know that I shouldn't ask this, especially since you just woke up and you probably are confused right now, but. Do you remember how you were shot? And, when Shelby was fixing you up, she found several marks and scars on your back, legs and arms. Do you mind telling us how you got those?" Ashley looked at him for a moment. She had been hurt so many times in her life, she didn't know if she should trust him or not. Soon however, she gave in. 

"Do you want the whole story?" She asked meekly. 

"If you don't mind." Ben replied. 

"Well, I don't think that you'll want to let Little Joe hear it, it gets pretty bad, and I don't think it would be appropriate for him to hear." Ashley looked away. Ben told Hoss to take Little Joe out and they would meet them in a little while. Hoss and Joe started to protest, but the look Ben gave them told them not to. Ashley turned back around and looked at Ben and Adam. She took a deep breath and began to tell her story. "Well, first off, I was born in South Carolina. I was an only child, so I was very close to my mother and father. Well, when I was about 12, my father went away on a business trip and never came home. My mom told me that he was killed in a drunken brawl, I'm not sure if that's true or not, but. My mother soon remarried Sam. I never liked him, but he made my mother happy so I went along quietly. On my 13th birthday is when he started to hit my mother. It made me so mad, but, what could I do? I was only 13. Well, one night he came drunk as a skunk, and he started in on my mom. I was so tired of this, so I decided to do something about it. They were arguing on the porch. When I went outside, he pushed her. She feel off. I ran to her, but she was gone." Ashley took in a breath and looked at Ben. Anger flashed in his eyes. She glanced at Adam and his mouth was literally hanging open. She waited for one of them to say something, the never did so she went on with her story. "I looked back up to him, and he was laughing. He had the gall to laugh right after he had killed my mother. I charged at him but he grabbed me. He threw me up against the wall. He looked me up and down before laughing once again. He grabbed me by the arm and threw me in the house. He punched me in the face a couple of times before he started to punch me repeatedly in the stomach. By the time he was done I was bruised and coughing up blood. He would do this every night. I started to wear pants and long shirts so no one would se the bruises and scars. About 3 months later, I got tired of it, and in the middle of the night, I took my horse and rode off. I didn't know I was going, I just rode. Three nights later I rode into a Cherokee Indian camp. At first they kept me as a prisoner until they saw the scars and fresh wounds. They treated my wounds, and I stayed with them. They taught me everything I would need to know if I was living as a Cherokee. When I was 17, a guy came to the village. His name was Seth. He told me that he would give me everything that I never had as a child. I was younger and foolish. So I agreed to go with him back to New Orleans. We went back and I married him. I thought that my life would be complete. Boy was I ever wrong. Everything was wonderful for the first year, but when I turned 18, it all went wrong. He started beating me every time something didn't go the way he planned. But, I didn't leave, I just put the thought in my head that he was blowing of steam and that he really did love me. Well, when I turned 19 I found out I was pregnant. I was so happy I could hardly contain myself. That night when I told Seth, he went ballistic. He ranted about how he didn't need, nor want a baby, especially with me. He started in on me really bad. I mean he beat me to the very crack of dawn. Needless to say I lost my baby. I stayed with him for one more year until I decided to come out west. I just up and left him one night. I took my wedding band off and told him I wanted a divorce, but I wouldn't give him that satisfaction, and as far as I was concerned he could tell everyone that I was dead. I was almost at Eagle Station when I was shot. I have no idea who shot me and why, but, oh well. So, here I am. A 20 year old blonde haired brown eyed girl, which is strange enough, that has been beaten her whole life, married an idiot, and lost her baby. Not much of a life is it?" Ashley sighed as she finished her story. Ben and Adam looked at her with their mouths hanging open. Unknown to Ashley or the two Cartwrights, a mob of people had come to the door to listen to the "mystery girl"s story. Ben was the first to speak. "I...I...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you bring back all of those memories. I really don't know what to say. If you would like to find Seth and press charges, we will help you in any way we can." Ashley silently shook her head. "Well, if you feel like traveling, you can stay with us at the Ponderosa for a while." Ashley nodded as Ben and Adam stood to walk outside. She got a strange feeling about the Cartwrights. A feeling that they were what she had been searching for her entire life. Maybe her life had meaning. 

************************************************************************************** Please review! I'm not finished, and I will update soon!! 


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